HONOLULU — With whoops and hollers, the Hawaii football team left the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex with two things it did not have at the beginning of the night.
The Laurence S. Kuter Trophy and a winning streak.
UH, a 19.5-point home underdog, stunned Air Force, 27-13, after showing a Veterans Day crowd of 10,777 (12,742 tickets issued) several things that have not defined the Rainbow Warriors in 2023 — a fast start, an ability to stop the run and an instinct to force turnovers in bunches.
After Cam Stone came down with an interception with 49 seconds left — the fourth Falcons turnover of the fourth quarter — the ‘Bows rushed over near the Diamond Head end zone, where the Kuter Trophy, the perpetual award between the two programs, awaited.
Defensive lineman John Tuitupou screamed as he held it aloft, seemingly letting weeks of frustration leave his body.
“There’s starting to get a mental toughness to our team and they’re starting to show the resiliency. Playing for each other,” coach Timmy Chang said. “That’s what you want to see in a team and you’re starting to see that from our guys.”
UH (4-7, 2-4 Mountain West) failed to score the last time it played at home, a 35-0 homecoming loss to San Jose State.
Since then, it has won the first road game of the Chang era, 27-14 at Nevada last week, then picked up the signature win of Chang’s young coaching career.
After a pregame flyover of four F-22 Raptors, things, for once, began auspiciously as quarterback Brayden Schager directed a 12-play, 75-yard drive, capped with the first of the night’s two touchdown passes to Pofele Ashlock.
Air Force was stymied on its first drive, signifying that the game would not go the way many expected. The Falcons switched from starter Zac Larrier to backup Jensen Jones from that point.
Air Force (8-2, 5-1), robbed of its greatest assets — the ability to kill clock with a lead in its triple-option offense — resembled little of the team that won its first eight games of the year and entered last week ranked 17th before losing 23-3 to Army. UH knocked AFA into a first-place tie with UNLV, one game ahead of San Jose State, Boise State and Fresno State.
“It’s a big shout-out to our offense. We knew coming in that if we got ahead by at least two scores, they’re not the type of team that likes to fall behind,” said safety Peter Manuma, who had one of UH’s three fourth-quarter picks. “Once our offense started heating up, it was a matter of time before we started (collecting turnovers). No better time than the fourth.”
Chang and members of the Hawaii defense credited UH’s short-yardage specialist quarterback, Dalen Morris, with preparing the team for the triple-option. Morris, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who was stationed on Oahu and walked on with the team in January, channeled his experiences with the offense at Annapolis combined with what he knew of Air Force to ready the team.
“Dalen, I thought he gave a better look than their QBs did,” safety Meki Pei said. “Shoot, he made it very realistic for us. … Props to him, he puts in his work, working double-time with the Navy and all.”
Morris shook his head as he emerged from the UH locker room. He didn’t get to travel to Colorado Springs for Navy’s lopsided loss to the Falcons his final year playing under Ken Niumatalolo in 2020.
“This feeling is sensational. It’s a crazy high, and I love it. Especially against Air Force. It was personal for me this entire week. I’m very glad that we ended up with the W."
Informed of what his teammates credited him with, Morris said, “That means a lot from the boys. Running scout team, a lot of guys have been running scout all year. Being on scout team isn’t fun. Everybody wants to be the one that comes out here Saturday and the one making plays, but the scout team is so pivotal to any winning team. This week especially, I wanted to give them the best look I can as an option guy coached by the great (Navy quarterbacks coach and former UH quarterback) Ivin Jasper.”
He nodded toward the visitors’ locker room at Les Murakami Stadium and smiled.
“I do run the option a little better than those guys over there.”
UH led 20-10 entering the fourth quarter. Pei’s 32-yard fumble return touchdown with 11:09 left gave the ‘Bows a welcome added cushion. Linebacker Jalen Smith forced the fumble on an option keeper by Jones.
“I just see the ball come out and there’s two of my teammates on the ground fumbling to get it. I’m like, keep it bouncing, keep it bouncing!” Pei said. “I got it and there ain’t no turning back after that.”
From there, the Falcons managed only a 21-yard field goal with 6:20 to play. They were forced to throw long repeatedly and their last three drives ended with picks by Noah Kema, Manuma and Stone. Jones threw the first and Ben Brittain was responsible for the last two.
Schager, who completed his first 10 passes, was 22-for-29 for 176 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
He took off for a career-long 40-yard run late in the second quarter. Three plays later, he found Steven McBride for a 28-yard toe-tap catch near the front left pylon, setting up a “Braddahly Shove” touchdown three plays later.
UH did not commit a turnover.
“I think (the San Jose game) really just pissed us all off,” Schager said. “That was an embarrassment. We knew that’s not Hawaii football, that’s not what the fans want to see, not what we want to see. These past two games, that’s really what that’s supposed to be about.”
UH has two games left, at Wyoming next week and senior night against Colorado State. The Rainbow Warriors, improbably, are not out of the running for a bowl game. They would need to win out and there would have to be a shortage of teams with winning records.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
